Stories of Impact
Learn about the lives of our residents and discover how your donations have helped them thrive.
Submit your tribute
Have a great story to share? Has CapitalCare made a difference in your loved one’s life? Please submit your story below.
Tributes
TIME, TALENT & TREASURE
Volunteering for a Worthy Cause Fundraising events are a mainstay for raising funds for our centres. Over the years some our most memorable events have been our Charity Golf Classic. Our Ladies Night, the High Tea, Mardi Gras Night, and our famous Feast on the Field. In addition to these, we volunteer for an AGLC Casino every 18 months, and have many volunteers on our Foundation Board. These wonderful people volunteer their time at the events to help create an excellent participant experience. We want to honor one of these amazing volunteers, who passed away in the Spring, 2022. Dr Fred Otto was one of those people who when he made a commitment, he was in 150%. He started his volunteering as the Chair of the Cooking Up Quality of Life Campaign in 2013. This campaign raised funds to update and renovate 11 dining rooms within three of the CapitalCare Centres. It was a 3-year project, and the impact was incredible. Dr. Otto found that he loved the cause so much that it was an easy transition to move onto the CapitalCare Foundation Board. His advice, questions, and contributions to discussions, brainstorming, and activities of the Foundation were always welcomed and guided the Foundation staffing team. His suggestions and support throughout the 9 years he was with the Foundation, was exemplary. Dr. Otto set the bar with his example of giving of time, talent, and treasure. He not only volunteered for CapitalCare Foundation, but also for countless other causes in the city, APEGA being another of his favorites. He was well respected in the community, with his former Engineering students and by his colleagues and peers. The staff at CapitalCare Centres welcomed him regularly when he went to visit to see the impact of the work from Foundation funds. Dr. Otto passed away this past spring, but his legacy of giving lives on. CapitalCare Foundation seeks out volunteers for many activities including sitting on the Board.
Musical Memories
A young lady and her uncle attended one of our Resident Choir concerts. She shared that it was the first time in a long time that she had seen her uncle smile. He sang throughout the concert and she sang beside him with tears sliding down her cheeks. She couldn’t believe how he responded—“it was incredible!”
She thanked me for the Foundation’s work and said that she herself was a healthcare aide at a different organization. At her place of work, they had nothing like what she had seen here at the centre. She then made a generous donation and asked to please put it towards great programs like the choir program. It truly was a performance of the Hearts and Minds Choir—leaving everyone in the audience with a tear or two on their cheeks.
Gord Demers, loving son of Leona
CapitalCare’s compassion and commitment to health care has few parallels because there is no family, no matter how great their need, that wants to put a loved one in institutional care. We all wish we could manage on our own and look after those we care for, but the reality is that at some point in the journey of Alzheimer’s or dementia, or a condition arising from injury or ill health, care at home will not be enough.
There are days when our loved one is stressed, frightened, confused, and lost, but because of your support, the staff is able to create rooms that invoke comfort. They are able to soothe through music or be there to share a laugh, play a game, sing a song, or provide a hug. And, it is done with incredible amounts of fortitude, creativity, and good humor. It simply astounds me.